Cast Away at Sea
by Techno Skittles
Summary: "When the figure had stepped into a ray of light, Blake gasped inwardly, a feeling of dread creeping into her system." / Yang finally gets the lead she's looking for to finding Ruby. Bioshock AU


_**{Half-broken hearted; To sever for years}**_

The corpse of the Big Daddy they had just fought was lying on its said, the circular disks that had once glowed red with fury now dull and cracked, dead just like their owner. It's drill, splattered with blood, old and new, was cracked and dented, still outstretched from the body as a last-ditch effort to impale its enemy and to inflict excruciating pain for whoever was unlucky enough to be caught on the other end.

Yang was leaning against a newstand counter, old, yellowed newspapers crumbled and ripped at her feet as she struggled to catch her breath and reduce the shaking of her legs. Blake herself stood over the monster, pistol at her feet, open and empty, blood smeared over her cheek from a cut she had received when she had been knocked aside during the fight into a wall - a minor injury compared to everything her partner had endured. The beast had shown no mercy; she had seen Yang stabbed, scraped, pushed through walls and windows, slammed into floors with enough force to make cracks in the tiles, and from the way she her left arm was hanging limply at her side, Blake could only guess she had a few broken bones too.

Looking away from the beast before her, she glanced around the trashed department store, a large toy emporium, looking for the telltale blue glow of a shot of EVE. A med kit wouldn't be bad either and, despite what Yang would say, she probably needed a dose of ADAM as well (but that would be much, much harder to find given that the splicers had probably already raided this place dry of any spare ADAM lying around). She stumbled forward on shaky legs, weary and rattled but not in so much pain as Yang, and began her search for something, _anything_ that could be of use for the blonde detective at this moment.

Bins and barrels full of toys were knocked over, cash registers ripped open, boxes thrown to the ground on their side with their contents spilling over. Blake searched and searched, pocketing anything they may prove useful (she found a few rounds for Yang's shotgun and a few cases of ammo for both their pistols as well as a bruised apple which she felt would be more help to Yang right now than nothing). However, most of what she found were broken down and dusty toys and drained shots of EVE. When she returned to Yang, who was now slumped over on the ground breathing heavily, blood slowly trickling from a puncture on her side, she only had some ammo, the apple and a very small med kit.

Immediately she knelt down beside Yang, handing her the apple to munch on before opening the med kit and going to work on her wounds. She started with the hole in her side since that would need the most medical attention and would prove to be a nuance later on should they carry on without treating it. She had just finished disinfecting the wound and cleaning the blood around it when Yang chucked her apple away, wiping the juice dribbling down her chin with her ratted sleeve.

"Thanks."

Blake shook her head and taped down a square piece of guaze over the wound, thankfully large enough to cover it completely. "You don't need to thank me."

Yang grinned and placed a calloused hand on top of her head, ruffling the already-mussed black hair. "O' course I do. 'S only polite."

Blake grinned back, weaker than Yang's but at least it was genuine, and moved her head from underneath her hand, smoothing it out and leaned back to sit on her heels. "You never seemed to care much for manners before."

"You mistake my brashness for lack of manners, ma'am."

"If that's what helps you keep a clean conscience." She sighed and looked back over to the Big Daddy, frowning as she looked over how dark and gloomy it looked, already blending into the background as if it were never alive. Then again, was it ever alive? What exactly were those things?

A sudden cry startled her and she heard Yang next to her jump as well. They both looked over in the direction of the vent the cry had echoed from and after a few second's time a small figure wiggled out of the hole from the top, dropping down on the ledge below before jumping down and running straight for the monster. Blake's immediate response was to cry out and warn them of the danger the monster possessed, but stayed silent when she remembered that it was as good as dead and wouldn't be able to harm anything anymore.

When the figure had stepped into a ray of light, Blake gasped inwardly, a feeling of dread creeping into her system.

The figure was of a small child, a little girl more specifically. In one of her hands she clutched a raggedy doll, torn in places and patched with different colored fabrics in others. The girl's own dress was torn and dirty, a magnificent blue that it once must've been was now faded to a dark, muddied blackish blue. The laced frills that lined the skirt were yellowed and frayed, hanging off the dress in come places and outright missing in others. Her once white collar, now a dreary off-white color dirtied with stains and blood hung loosely around her thin neck.

Looking past her clothes she saw how thin and taut this girl was, as if she had been starved for days or weeks. Her skin was pulled over her bones so tightly it might rip should she move too suddenly and the complexion was so deathly pale it was gray, smudged with dirt and blood and other stains that Blake could not and did not wish to know.

But the most disconcerting part were her eyes. They lacked pupils…they lacked everything. She wasn't even sure they could be counted as eyes anymore. It was as if someone had take the sun from the bright blue sky and shoved them into her sockets, so bright and luminous Blake didn't like to look at them too long. Their color was dulled to a dark gold and glowed ominously, almost ghostly as the young girl weeped over the Big Daddy they had a hand in killing.

Beside her Yang had stood up abruptly, grunting as the pain of all her aches and bruises claimed her but still stood nonetheless without any sort of support. Blake stood after her as she headed over to the little girl, her eyes burning and her face hard, her stride, while slow and lopsided, confident.

A Little Sister. That girl was a Little Sister.

She felt foolish for having forgotten the Little Sisters, the pride and joy of Rapture above and the delectable little rabbits that the splicer feasted on for their ADAM down here. The reason the Big Daddies had been created in the first place - the big monsters who protected the little ones.

Blake jogged and caught up to Yang who now stood over the crying Little Sister, fruitlessly tugging on the large hand of the Big Daddy, begging it to wake up. It's echoed voice grated on Blake's ears and sent shivers down her spine and she glanced around them, hoping her cries wouldn't attract any nearby splicers to the scene.

She then turned to Yang who was intently staring at the little girl, expression difficult to read. Then, remembering Yang's condition and her desperate need for something, particularly ADAM, Blake reached down and snatched the arm of the little girl, wincing at the scream she released and pulled her up to her feet. The Little Sister screamed and struggled, bringing up her other hand to claw at Blake's arm, but she held fast and strong to her wrist.

"Yang, we could harvest her! You can get the ADAM you need!"

She hadn't expected to be shoved back hard enough to stumble backwards and almost fall down nor had she expected Yang to immediately pick up the Little Sister and cradle the crying child in her arms and stroke her head to shush her. When she regained her bearings the Yang had managed to muffle the girl's cries slightly, fiery red eyes turned to her and Blake shrank down, confused and scared.

"Yang, I -"

"Don't _ever_ suggest that _again_!" The Little Sister finally wrapped her arms around Yang's neck and buried her face into her shoulder as she continued to snivel and tremble like a frightened child. Perhaps that's really all she was.

"Yang! I just…you need _something_!"

"I'm fine!" she snapped. Her eyes were still red and furious, but in the dim light she noticed the shine of tears. "I would rather bleed out and_die_ than become one of those monsters! I'm not going to _murder_ a little girl just 'cause I got a bit banged up!" She shook her head and Blake noticed the way her shoulders shook, the way her throat pulsed and knew that she was doing her best not to cry. At first she thought it a strange reaction, something very out of character for the brash and rough detective.

And then, suddenly, she remembered their brief conversation after one of their fights as they took refuge in a shop. Yang had shared the story of her family, of her mother, her father, and her little sister, taken away from her and leaving her alone to fend for herself. She had told her that while she had no idea what exactly happened to Ruby, she had a pretty good guess since that's what happened to most lone little girls.

"Oh, Yang…oh no…I'm sorry I…I forgot." Tears welled up in Blake's eyes now and soon enough all three of them were crying, all for different reasons.

"It's fine," Yang said eventually, voice low and tired. "I just…it scares me. What if…what if someone already got to her, before I did?" She inhaled a shaky breath and hugged the Little Sister closer and Blake imagined that Yang thought of it as Ruby herself. "I just want to see my baby sis again, Blake."

Slowly Blake walked towards the pair and put a hand on Yang's shoulder, offering her a watery smile as she wiped away a few of Yang's tears. "You will. I promise. I'll help you if you want." Yang lifted her head and blinked away the last of her tears, nodding in new confidence before crouching down to set the Little Sister on the ground. She put her hands on her shoulders and looked into those glowing yellow orbs, mouth set in a hard line, contrasted by her tear stained cheeks.

"Hey, sweetie," Yang started out softly, gaining the girl's attention. "Tell me. Do you know a…a Ruby? Little girl, just like you. She has dark hair, maybe with some bits of red in it."

The Little Sister sniffled and used her arm to wipe away the snot dripping from her nose. When she nodded, both girls were surprised but Blake noticed the excitement oozing off her partner at that simple gesture. "Really? You've seen Ruby?" When the girl nodded again Yang began laughing and crying anew, wiping away a few of the tears spilling over before abandoning the attempt altogether.

"Well…if you see her again tell her…" Yang blinked some of the tears out of her eyes and pursed her lips. "Tell her big sis is coming, okay? Tell her Yangie is trying_right now_ to find her, okay? Can you do that for me?" The Little Sister nodded with a smile and when she opened her arms, Yang returned the hug without a second thought before watching the little girl scamper over to the vent and climb back into her hole. When she was gone Yang stood back up and turned to Blake with a large smile and lifted spirits.

"She's here. She's actually _here_. After all these years…"

Blake could only nod and allow Yang to lean against her as she cried a mix of tears of relief and sheer joy.

* * *

**A/N: Okay so this one takes place AFTER _Down Here in Rapture_ (if you haven't read that yet, would you kindly?). It also takes place after the little snippet I included in _Puzzle Pieces_.**

**This was another prompt I got on tumblr so I thought I'd give it a go. I'm probably going to write a full-fledged fic for this again...soon. Maybe.**


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